Lilo & Stitch

Lilo & Stitch suffers from all the usual problems that make these Disney live action remakes so much worse than the animated originals they attempt to adapt. The film is noticeably longer for no reason thanks to its unnecessary need to add new characters who bring nothing and almost all of its changes do more damage than good. However, it mostly retains the heart of its predecessor and still contains some good laughs so it can comfortably avoid being the worst remake.

Maia Kealoha is a suitably adorable Lilo and Chris Sanders is obviously a great Stitch, who remains the best part. Sydney Agudong is a good Nani but pretty much everyone else is so bland and Courtney B. Vance's Cobra Bubbles is especially screwed over by the changes to his character. Zach Galifianakis & Billy Magnussen as Jumba & Pleakley are a colossal step down in comparison to the original duo and their alien forms are now extremely uncanny.

Dean Fleischer Camp's direction gets the job done in the standard issue authorless fashion. All the technical issues stem from the near total lack of energy which comes from the misguided idea to (kinda) faithfully adapt a film that wasn't even remotely made with live action sensibilities in mind. The uniqueness has gone and it's replaced by something that generally feels a lot more generic. At least the CGI for Stitch is good enough because it would've been unwatchable if it wasn't.

What to say about this remake? The kids will love it. Stitch is spot-on animated, the cast is great, especially for Lilo and her sister Nani. And that's about it about the good stuff.

For hardcore fans of the original as myself this remake will be a disappointment.

The story at the beginning is rushed, iconic characters are missing, there are some new characters that add absolutely nothing to the story, iconic story elements are missing, the main villain is changed, the reference to Elvis Presley is barely in it, the reference to "ohana" is completely changed thus changing the messaging of the movie (because you know, we live in "modern" times now), the third act is a mess and I literally hated the ending.

But it is still watchable and the kids will enjoy it.

So gonna make this with no spoilers

I really wanted to like this, but the remake just misses what made the original Lilo & Stitch so special.

One of the biggest issues? They completely lost the heart of the story. The original was about found family, feeling like an outsider, and growing into love and understanding. This version just kind of glosses over all that. They cut out some important characters who brought depth, and the new ones they added didn't move the plot forward at all-they felt like filler.

And then there's Lilo. In the original, her behavior came from trauma, misunderstanding, or just being a kid who felt deeply and didn't know how to express it. Here, it feels like they made her act out just to be bad. It wasn't quirky or endearing-it was out of character and kind of mean-spirited.

What really stings is the lack of emotional growth. The original gave us real redemption arcs and character development. Here, it's like everyone stays the same the whole movie. No payoff, no evolution.

Visually it's fine, and I'm sure some people might enjoy it on a surface level. But for fans who connected with the original's heart? This just feels hollow.

Let's start with this: the original 'Lilo & Stitch' is one of my favourite cartoons ever. It's pure magic - quirky, heartfelt, and beautifully weird in that way only early 2000s Disney could get away with. So when I heard there was a live-action remake in the works, I had cautious hope. But after sitting through this 2025 adaptation... I wish I'd never seen it.

This remake is not nearly as good as the original. In fact, it barely feels like it's trying to be. Iconic moments have been cut or warped beyond recognition - smoothed over into something bland and safe. And don't get me started on Stitch himself - still voiced by Chris Sanders, yes, but it feels hollow without the wild energy that made him so lovable.

Some of the changes just make no sense. Characters are tweaked in ways that add nothing, and the emotional heart of the story - Lilo's grief, her loneliness, her oddball charm - has been neutered. The film is both rushed AND drags on, somehow managing to feel overstuffed and undercooked all at once. A true feat, if it wasn't so frustrating to watch.

Ultimately, it feels like a soulless cash grab. Another in a long line of Disney remakes that mistake visual fidelity for emotional resonance. It's got all the polish of a high-budget project, but none of the spirit. I didn't smile, I didn't cry - I just kept checking my watch.

Honestly? I'm at the point where I won't even bother watching the live-action remake of Moana, or whatever else they're churning out next. I'm so over the fakeness. These aren't love letters to our childhoods - they're boardroom products dressed up in nostalgia.

NO MORE. Let our animated classics stay classics. They don't need "updating." They just need to be left alone.

The girl who played Lilo was a great fit to play the mischievous lilo. They put lots of Elvis music and traditional Hawaiian music in it which I enjoyed. The aliens and stitch were funny. The Hawaiian scenery was beautiful.

Cons - They did nani dirty. She's too mean and dismissive to David and lilo. She doesn't even take lilo to get stitch which was a pretty important scene. They are side characters that don't add anything positive to the movie that get too much screen time. Gantu the shark was not in the movie .They should have got terry crews or the rock to play Cobra bubbles. The guy they had just stood there looking constipated and scowled.

I laughed a lot I got a break from life for a while and I got to wear my stitch shirt. The bus full of happy kids and the two older couples with their stitch bucket cups seem to be having a great time.